The Green Corridor route in Singapore, a beautiful nature trail running through Singapore’s heartlands and some of Singapore’s natural greenery from the Southern tip of Singapore at Tanjong Pagar towards the Northern part of Singapore around the Woodlands region. The Green Corridor as some of us would affectionately know, is also known as the Rail Corridor, given her former roots and history of the former KTM train services running on the railway track from Tanjong Pagar KTM Railway Station to Bukit Timah KTM Railway Station and Woodlands Checkpoint before crossing over to Malaysia.

The Green Corridor Run 2014, a unique trail run that starts from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to Bukit Timah Railway Station, over a distance of 10.5km surrounded by the natural green environment and the Singapore heartlands. In their 2nd year, it was great to see a great turnout of runners running in the Green Corridor running singlet and the runners blend themselves beautifully with the beautiful greenery of the Green Corridor/Rail Corridor. I was at the Kampung Bahru Road flyover and photographed the first and second wave of Green Corridor Run runners running out from the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station area and it was a nice sea of green runners among the greenery! The weather during the Green Corridor Run 2014 was very wet and kudos to the runners for completing the run in very wet and muddy conditions!

I wasn’t able to cover the Green Corridor Run 2014 from the Tanjong Pagar towards the end point at Bukit Timah Railway Station due to a clash of schedules, like what I did in the Green Corridor Run 2013. However, I hope that my small contribution in sharing about the Green Corridor Run 2014 and some photographs from the Green Corridor Run 2014 would encourage future Green Corridor runners to join! I also hope that more people would continue to love and explore our Green Corridor/Rail Corridor for leisure and recreational activities, along with the history and culture of the KTM Railway operations in Singapore.

I personally feel that the Green Corridor Run is great and suits the Green Corridor perfectly! Let’s keep the Green Corridor Run going in the years ahead and beyond! Let’s keep the Green Corridor status quo and an area for outdoor recreation, fun, healthy living and leisure activities!

Our Singapore (SG) Heartlands, the places that we lived in and grew up in, something close to our hearts, minds and souls. While Singapore is a small country in size, our various Housing Development Board (HDB) Housing Estates does have its own unique characteristics and community. It can be an interesting adventure to walk around various HDB estates heartlands and explore the area, especially when they have a mix of older and younger generation HDB blocks of flats. There was a recent project: MND Heartlands by Ministry of National Development, a social media campaign to encourage Singaporeans to explore the places and spaces around them. There were a few heartland walks around Singapore recently too and when I received news that fellow photographer Weili organised a Heartlands Instawalk to my Clementi Heartlands, and Aik Beng was going to lead the Heartlands Instawalk into my heartland Clementi estate, I came forward to help out Weili and Aik Beng in bringing them around my Clementi heartlands.

Clementi Heartlands is interesting with a mix of older and new HDB blocks, with beautiful greenery near the Sungei Ulu Pandan and Ulu Pandan Park Connector. We met nearby at the Clementi MRT Station and proceed walking up towards Clementi Avenue 4, through the Clementi Community Centre. Along the way, Aik Beng shared a lot on mobile photography tips to the participants, highlighting to them the things/perspectives to look out for. I wasn’t too actively taking photographs on my iPhone 5 and uploading onto Instagram nor taking many photographs with my Canon DSLR. Since I was helping Aik Beng in leading the Clementi Heartlands Instawalk, I had to spend more time leading and looking after the group of participants! I double up as a historian for the walk because this is my Heartlands for 30+ years! Nevertheless, it was fun and enjoyable, something that I enjoyed doing it and used to organise such walks for friends last time!

Upon reaching Sungei Ulu Pandan and Ulu Pandan Park Connector, we walked along the Park Connector and they could view the Sunset Way Old Railway Bridge and the greenery surrounding the Clementi Heartlands. A major highlight of the Clementi Heartlands Instawalk was to visit the Clementi Community Farm for Clementi Residents and to see the community heartlands active in farming and community activities. The Clementi Residents were very friendly and shared with the participants about their produces they were growing. The participants spent a bit of time there to look around the community farm and the former KTM Railway tracks that once passed through the Clementi Heartlands.

Walking to our next destination, the newest segment of Clementi HDB heartlands, the Casa Clementi HDB blocks at Clementi Avenue 1 there were recently completed and the new tenants moving over to stay in them. We had a bit of a slow walk from Clementi Avenue 4 to Clementi Ave 1, through the various void decks, a distinct feature of the heartlands. We also came across a bird singing competition around Blocks 332 and 333, another unique heartlands activity! The participants reached Casa Clementi and had a view of the newest HDB blocks of flats, the designs and the beautiful roof top garden for the residents of Casa Clementi and come down to relax and have fun!

The SG Heartlands is something unique and special in its own sense, spaces and surroundings. Do go out and explore your Heartlands in your own neighbourhood and the other SG Heartlands in Singapore as well! The SG Heartlands is where we learn, collect and compile our history, heritage, culture, landscape and memories of our past and for our future. Take many photographs of SG Heartlands, remember to tag #SGHeartlands and share them!

The Green Corridor, also officially known as the Rail Corridor, was very active today with about 6000 runners. Looking back in time, dating back to the last day of the KTM Railway operations in Singapore, the fate of the Green Corridor was hanging in the balance. Most of us do not know about the exact future and plans for the Green Corridor and it is still currently being discussed and planned by the authorities. At this current juncture, the Green Corridor/Rail Corridor is left as it is (except for Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and Bukit TImah Railway Station being closed to the public). It’s a leisure and recreational space for Singaporeans to relax and enjoy.

When the news regarding the return of the KTM Railway land back to Singapore, I started photographing and documenting the Green Corridor before the last day of the KTM Railway operations, the changes and developments thereafter. It was a humbling and enriching journey since I grew up near the Old Jurong Line at Clementi during my primary school days and my secondary school was beside Tanjong Pagar Railway Station (10 years near/beside the KTM operations). Even though I did not take the KTM trains, they had been a part of my growing up life. Therefore, I had a strong interest in the Green Corridor and would continue to lend my support in terms of photographing and documenting my exploration stories. Do check out my Flickr collection on the Green Corridor.

The Green Corridor Run was a great idea to push forward the agenda that the Green Corridor to be preserved and used for outdoor recreational activities such as running, cycling and trekking. Starting from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station to Bukit Timah Railway Station, over a distance of 10.5km, running pass the HDB heartlands and lush greenery along the former KTM Railway tracks route. I confessed that I was planning to sign up and run in the Green Corridor Run 2013 but I didn’t manage to sign up in time when the run reached their quota number of participants. Therefore, I went photographing at different segments of the Green Corridor Run starting from Buona Vista MRT station, overhead bridge near Ghim Moh HDB estate, bridge near Cold Storage Jelita at Holland Road, and finally Bukit Timah Railway Station. It was a sunny day with clear blue skies, while the weather was hot today, it was great for the Green Corridor Run!

Looking at the number of runners participating in the Green Corridor Run, it was really good to see and feel that Green Corridor has the potential to be a outdoor playground for Singaporeans to enjoy, relax, keep fit and healthy, enjoy the lush greenery and fresh air. The runners also stopped along the route to take photographs for memories sake. At the Bukit Timah Railway Station, the runners were happily taking photographs at the Bukit Timah Railway Station, the partial railway tracks that were preserved and the bridge across Bukit Timah Road/Dunearn Road. There were even people queuing up to take photographs with the Bukit Timah Railway Station signboard! Nature Society Singapore (NSS) is the official charity partner and I had a good time catching up with the friendly folks from NSS, Kwok Peng and Hang Chong at the end point marquee, along with Eugene Tay from We Support The Green Corridor.

With a maiden and successful start, let us all make the Green Corridor a haven for everybody to relax, enjoy, exercise, keep fit and healthy, have fun, leisure and recreation among the lush greenery, conservation and protection of the rich flora and fauna that Green Corridor is part of, the rich heritage, history and culture of the KTM Railway operations in Singapore.

That is why the Green Corridor is very important to Singapore and deserves to be preserved as it is, for the future generations.

The Motoring Heritage Weekend 2012 was held on 8th and 9th September 2012 at the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. In lieu of the heritage and history of Singapore’s various transport networks and systems, it was a perfect fit for all parties involved. The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, the Grand Old Dame, was reopened to the public once again for two days, showcasing many heritage cars, well kept and preserved by their owners. There were also food and drink stalls catering to the event and nostalgic food/snacks/games can be found there too! Visitors to the Motoring Heritage Weekend 2012 were treated to vintage car rides on the classic VW Mini-Bus Combi!

The Motoring Heritage Weekend was official opened by National Heritage Board Chairman Mr Ong Yew Huat and Zinkie brought him a tour of the community photography exhibition. She did a great job sharing on the various photographs on display. Zinkie introduced me to Mr Ong when he saw my photograph on display at the board and I shared my story behind the photograph that I took of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.

At the main hall, there was a community exhibition showcasing photographs and memories of the former Tanjong Pagar Raliway Station, titled “First Journeys, Last Goodbyes”, led by Jerome Lim, liaising and coordinating with National Heritage Board and a few other contributors namely, Zinkie Aw, Francis Siew, Loke Man Kai and myself. After Mr Ong finish touring the community photography exhibition, Zinkie, Francis and myself toured Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, taking photographs of the vintage cars on display, exploring corners and unexplored locations inside Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, taking photographs and keeping more memories to keep for the future. The visitors to the Motoring Heritage Event, took the opportunity to explore Tanjong Pagar Railway Station once more, walking on the remaining railway tracks, the platforms and exploring around the building/rooms/stores too.

Even though I only submitted one photograph for the community exhibition, I was glad to be part of this small community effort to continue the preservation and conservation of Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the Green Corridor/Rail Corridor heritage and history. I sincerely hope that the community exhibition of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and the KTM Railway history, will still be able to continue on.

I hope that more people will step forward and contribute towards the history, heritage, conservation and preservation of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, the Green Corridor and Rail Corridor. Everyone of us can make a difference/effort, to how we want our future generations to remember our railway transport history, heritage and the stories of the people that used the trains. With an ongoing engagement between heritage interest groups, supporters and government bodies, we can make it a better inclusive society for all in the future that cares about our heritage and history, to preserve and conserve and share our stories to our future generations. Here’s my photography collection on Flickr, consisting of the Green Corridor that includes the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and coverage of the railway tracks and her greenery.

Not too long ago, there were train operations in Singapore, operated by the KTM and running from Tanjong Pagar Railway Station through Bukit Timah Railway Station before heading up towards Woodlands, across the Causeway and travel into Malaysia. With the agreement between Singapore and Malaysia Governments, the KTM Railway Stations and land space were returned back to Singapore while the tracks were supposed to be removed and returned back to the Malaysia.

During the period leading up to the return and last day of the KTM Railway operations in Singapore, it gained massive interest and following, from taking photographs, trekking along the railway tracks, reminisce of the olden days, public consultation on the future of the Green Corridor and outcry over the removal of the railway tracks. I would not go too much into the details of the happenings and timeline after the return of the KTM Railway, it can probably become a mini thesis of the happenings and follow-ups, public consultations, exhibitions, discussions between different bodies. I had been documenting, photographing and writing on the Green Corridor as much as I could, do check out my The Green Corridor Collection on Flickr!

This Green Corridor is now officially known as the Rail Corridor, while the plans and ideas are currently still in discussion, planning and consultation between different bodies, the public and the government, the final plans for the Rail Corridor is still unknown. Most of the Rail Corridor is currently not yet open to the public again, however, there is a 1.4km stretch of station and railway land open to the public from September 16, southwards from the steel bridge along Bukit Timah Road towards Holland Road, that was announced via Channel News Asia. I had been wanting to walk this stretch and see for myself first hand how the changes were really like after the removal of the tracks, the surroundings. My business, time and other personal commitments stalled my plans, finally, I was able to set aside a bit of my time on Boxing Day, to explore this 1.4km stretch.

First and Foremost, with the removal of the railway tracks, some things once removed it will never be the same again.

The railway tracks were covered up with soil/earth, grass is growing nicely on top of it, although not as natural as the surrounding flora and fauna, it somehow tries to fit into the greenery and surroundings, considering the factors, it’s quite good actually. There was a concern on the greenery, the wildlife and reserve, known as the Clementi Woodlands, being affected by the removal works. From my trek up and down this 1.4km railway land stretch, the damage (if any) looks minimal, the wildlife can be seen and heard, from the birds chirping away, to the dragonflies and fishes inside the small clear flowing stream and pond.

It’s definitely comforting that this stretch of the Rail Corridor still retains the aura, greenery, tranquil and natural beauty, while it’s a real pity that the railway tracks cannot be retained, I sincerely hope that this Rail Corridor or Green Corridor, will stay as a green belt, a green spine that gives Singapore a outdoor recreational and leisure area, for Singaporeans to remember her railway history, heritage and culture, along with space for trekking, running, walking, nature and wildlife studies, cycling. What exact plans/developments will the Rail Corridor be in the future ? We will know it soon in the next few years to come. Do follow We Support The Green Corridor or the Rail Corridor and look out for the updates!

On a lovely Sunday morning 18th September 2011, a group of like minded supporters of We Support The Green Corridor, assembled in front of blk 41 Teban Gardens Road, geared up and ready to trek the Old Jurong Line from Teban Gardens to Sunset Way, organised by Eugene from We Support The Green Corridor, with guides Kum Seng, Kwok Peng & Chee Kien, leading this trek and there were lots of sharing on the bio-diversity, flora, fauna, history and heritage of the Old Jurong Line.

This was my 2nd trek along this particular stretch, check out my 1st trekking adventure here! As we started walking along the defunct track from Teban Gardens, there were no more railway tracks, with only the evidence of the small valley on the sides of the ridge lines, that indicates where the tracks were passing through previously. The community farming along those tracks still remain strong and healthy and I hope that this will stay for as long as it can!

After walking through the tunnel, the group did not bash through the thick vegetation, whereby the old railway tracks continued towards Sunset Way. We hiked along the expressway and walked towards Sungei Ulu Pandan Park Connector, reaching the old metal railway bridge across the river. Along the expressway, we can see construction going on in the vegetation and it’s disappointing to see beautiful wildland destroyed for commercialisation.

The old metal bridge was sealed up on both ends and I sincerely hope that it will be open back to the public soon, just like before,, to its original beauty, aura and heritage. Continuing towards Faber Heights, more evidence of the old railway tracks being removed and only bits and pieces of the Old Jurong Line remains today, the rusty metal plates, hooks, bolts and nuts, along with their thick wooden blocks. This stretch of the Old Jurong Line is being transformed into something else, building a new access road for the Faber Heights estate (Faber Walk) to Commonwealth Avenue West, in anticipation of the increase in traffic demand arising from new developments around the areas nearby.

While we can still spot the old railway tracks hidden away in the lush greenery, we are blocked away by construction that is beginning to seal up the fate of the old railway tracks. Begun the loss of the Old Jurong Line Railway Tracks it has ! It’s just like a knife slicing through the heart and soul of the greenery, history and heritage.

Continuing our walk towards Clementi, whereby the beauty of the Old Railway tracks remained untouched in its original state, living hand in hand, in harmony with the community farming, temples and green space. Due to the closure of the Sunset Way Railway Bridge, the group stopped their walk at the Clementi Avenue 4 and 6 woodlands area. Check out more photos here ! Do drop by my Green Corridor Collection on my Flickr!

We call can make a difference to the history and heritage of Singapore. Let’s all come together to share our stories and thoughts, contribute our ideas and inspirations, to make Singapore a better home for our future generations!

In the continuation of my old and active railway tracks exploration, completing Part 1 and Part 2 that forms the Old Abandoned Railway Tracks, it was now Part 3 and I joined an organised outing by Ivan, hiking from Bukit Timah Railway Station to Ten Mile Junction Railway Track road crossing. Meeting at King Albert Park McDonald with Daphne, Jingwen, Wilfred and Ivan, we had our breakfast before starting off on the Bukit Timah Railway Track Bridge and starting our wonderful “science class” trek up North.

The weather was great, hot and sunny, however, it’s the best for trekking and taking photographs. This is part of the Green Corridor, a long stretch of wildlife, flora and fauna and rainforest, that has been recently getting more attention with the “relocation” and eventual of the active railway tracks and train stations. This is part of our adventure, to document, share and spread the awareness of the importance, relevance and significance of preserving (instead of demolishing) and protecting our greenery, wildlife, forests, history and heritage. It’s like our own mini Red Dragonflies movie too!

Trekking up the railway track, passing through the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve segment, even though it cuts through private housing estate and main arterial roads at their sides, the forests and surroundings are still very well preserved and along the railway tracks, we saw a foot path leading into some parts of the rainforest, found bits and pieces of history of Bukit Timah, we found an old well, with lots of algae, this shows the history and heritage of the early days in Bukit Timah area.

Hiking past the foot of Bukit Timah Hill and Nature Reserve, we spotted monkeys (A Word of Caution : Do Not Feed the Monkeys!*) , dead animals and reptiles in the form of bones and semi-decomposed. This shows the natural processes, natural selection and natural laws of our environment, therefore, we shouldn’t be interfering too much into them, destroying Nature is the same as destroying our Home. We had a great time taking photographs, CSI style, with Ivan leading the “class” in Science and Nature field lessons to Daphne, Jingwen and Wilfred.

Continuing up North, reaching another Railway Bridge along Upper Bukit Timah Road, just beside Rail Mall, we all made a pit stop and refuel before continuing up North along the railway tracks. During our hiking journey, we encountered train services traveling North and South on the railway tracks, Word of Caution : Please be very careful and watch out for the trains! The segment from the Rail Mall onwards, is closer to the urban environment and there were less signs of wildlife and we spotted rubbish and dumping, something that is very disappointing.

Finally reaching our Part 3 end point, near to Ten Mile Junction, near to cross junction of Choa Chu Kang Road and Upper Bukit Timah Road, it’s the railway road crossing. Do check out Daphne’s post on her take of Railway Tracks Part 3!

This is an integral part of our history, let’s all spread the awareness and messages across, to preserve the heritage and history, to protect and preserve our Green Corridor.

Do you remember my recent abandoned Old Railway Track Part 1? A photography walkabout from Teban Gardens to Sunset Way Railway Bridge? It was a fun, exciting and challenging photography walkabout, searching, documenting and photographing the abandoned Old Railway Tracks of Singapore.

In my Part 2 series of Abandoned Old Railway Tracks, the 2nd leg starts from Sunset Way Railway Bridge, following the Old Railway Tracks along Sunset Way HDB Estate into the Clementi Woodlands before trekking out into the open near the Bukit Timah area, connecting to the active KTM Railway tracks. This stretch of Old Railway Tracks is part of a bigger blueprint of “We Support The Green Corridor“, making lots of effort and awareness tools, sharing and showcasing the need to preserve the greenery, flora and fauna, animals and wildlife residing inside this Green Belt. Trekking through the Clementi Woodlands today, this is something we have to do, to preserve our history, forests, flora and fauna, not just for us, it’s for our future generations.

The trek wasn’t easy due to the muddy terrain, fallen tree trunks, logs and branches, uneven terrain, whereby trekkers might have to climb up and down terrain in order to hike. No doubt it was quite a physical challenge, we were blessed with beautiful greenery, fresh air, wildlife, flowers and tranquility. I was joined by Jingwen and Leon, exploring this stretch of Abandoned Railway Track Part 2 and it was a fun photography walkabout experience. Due to the nature, intensity and difficulty of this trek, those planning to trek this route, please be prepared for muddy conditions, uneven terrain and natural obstacles. Wearing the appropriate attire and gear (e.g trekking pole) and suitable shoes (e.g. hiking boots) is a MUST if you are planning to trek.

It was great to see history being preserved, the Old Railway tracks surviving the test of time and nature’s growth. Some old icons were spotted, rubbish, littering and pollution can also be spotted along the trek. Let’s spread the word and awareness, let’s keep this beautiful green belt, our unique green corridor, giving us an avenue and area to enjoy greenery and tranquility in our concrete jungle. Trekking out into the active KTM Railway Track, we continued our hike up to Bukit Timah Railway Station, the straight and open Railway Tracks, going to be an integral part of Singapore’s history soon.

The KTM Malaysian Railway Lines in Singapore, goes back quite a long way in history in time and it’s an important and integral part of the history of Singapore and Malaysia. In the early days, there were railway lines from the western part of Singapore, from the industrial estate in Jurong to the main railway line along Bukit Timah to Tanjong Pagar. However, as time and economics changed, the railway was no longer in use for a period of time, while the railway line from Tanjong Pagar up to Malaysia is still in operation.

With the recent changes to the future of the railway tracks and Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, agreements between the governments of Singapore and Malaysia is leading towards a new era for the railway lines in Singapore, what will happen to them? Will they survive the thirst of land scarce Singapore? Can the railway lines, there are or going to be no longer in use, be turned into Green Corridors?

Armed with the strong interest inside me, I read, followed and researched on various other blogs, photographs and details on a segment of the railway lines in Singapore. Thereafter, I decided to do the Teban Gardens to Sunset Way (Abandoned) Railway Track Photo Walkabout with Sue and Amanda. Using the KTM Malaysian Railway Line Track (on Google Maps) as a reference, we started at Block 9, Teban Garden Road, recognising the landmarks from friends photographs, we hiked under the bridge, into a tunnel and came out on the diagonal side of Ayer Rajah Expressway and Jurong Town Hall Road.

There were strong evidence of the abandoned railway track (coming out from the tunnel) and onto a small ridge line, the next stretch was pretty challenging with tall grass, thick bushes and streams. Observing from our route of advance, it was like 2 mini valleys and the valley on the left side was a stream, while the right side was still quite alright for hiking/bashing through, this route is not easy and can be quite tiring, on top of being careful on where you are hiking/bashing through. During this stretch, there weren’t any more evidence of the railway track until the side of Sungei Ulu Pandan, whereby we spotted the first railway track bridge and it’s closed by the authorities currently.

We had quite a bit of rest there, on the park connector side of Sungei Ulu Pandan, to dry our socks and shoes, before taking photographs of the railway bridge, crossing over along the expressway bridge to Faber Heights estate. At this area, we were able to find more distinct features of the former railway track lines, the railway track beams, bolts, wooden blocks and granite rocks. We had quite a good time with photography of historical railway tracks here, took a rest too before I made a decision to amend my route of advance.

Due to changing weather (potentially rain coming), I decided against walking through Faber Heights and decided to “cut through” Faber Heights private housing area, managed to get a drinks refill break at a provision store, moving out to Jalan Lempeng and walking across the road to Clementi Avenue 6 housing blocks. I am very familiar with this part of the area since my former primary school (Clementi North Primary School) is just around the corner and I was able to lead and “take shortcut” towards the Sunset Way side.

Reaching Clementi Avenue 4 housing blocks, being a local neighbourhood boy, I found my dirt track entry point and from this stretch onwards, it’s one of the better preserved railway track lines. Along this stretch, I was very happy, kind of getting back to my primary school days, of fun, play and no pressures. Small farms, temple, beautiful greenery before reaching the pinnacle of this photography walkabout, the Sunset Way Railway Bridge. Check out my flickr for the photos !

Looking back at this abandoned railway track lines, will it stand the test of Singapore’s history and future developments ?